Lost Emigrant Trail - Passport in Time

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Archaeology of the Historic Tehama Roads and Trails 2015

Redding Field Office (BLM), California, 2015
from Bureau of Land Management California, News Bytes

On this Passport In Time project, volunteers and BLM staff explore the Lost Emigrant Trail. Despite high summer temperatures and a hidden rattlesnake, the Bureau of Land Management Redding Field Office and 30 volunteers completed archaeological investigations of a lost emigrant trail.


(Photo: Under the direction of BLM Archaeologist Dr. Eric Ritter, segments of the trail where visible and locations where the trail might have existed were established. Photo courtesy of BLM)

The reported route appears to be an off-shoot of the more famous Lassen Trail which brought emigrants westward into the Sacramento Valley. Using metal detectors, old aerial photographs, Google Earth images and on-the-ground observations, it has been possible to establish portions of this route as it crossed BLM managed lands in Tehama County.


(Photo: The volunteers not only helped BLM in their investigations but also experienced an archaeological adventure in learning of local cultural resources. Photo courtesy of BLM)

Under the direction of BLM Archaeologist Dr. Eric Ritter, common artifacts like wagon parts and horseshoes were found, but there was also a liquor bottle, lard can, cast iron stove parts, bullets, buttons, and harness buckles. This information will be used for management purposes and to better understand the westward migration experience. (BLM Facebook)
 
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